Smoke Signals and other news
The post-season tournament for Marshall County Sports is at Potts Camp Fields this week. Come and join the fun-filled day as the kids complete their season and celebrate.
Marshall County Sports has a ten-year-old All-Star team going to state. The games will be on June 15 through June 18. Twelve young ladies and their coaches will represent Marshall County.
This week I lost my oldest living cousin, Marie Carlton. She was always one of the sweetest people. She was the last of her sisters and had outlived her husband and two of her sons. The only people I knew at her funeral were one of her sons and a small group of cousins. Most of my memories are of her sons visiting and taking them into the woods and pasture to look for Indian relics, which we usually found. Her son reminded me that on one of those visits, I proudly displayed my newly learned talent of “doing the twist.” Oh, my. I’m sure I thought I was good. He said they were all duly impressed. With Marie being 21 years older than me, I only knew her as an adult. My parents spent the night at her home in Memphis near the hospital the night before I was born, as a severe snowstorm was brewing.
The Garden Club held an event for the local youth this week at the Walking Trail Gazebo. There will be a separate article about their adventures coming your way soon.
On June 24, the Byhalia Police Department will host a community BBQ Contest at the ball fields on Lowry Road. There will also be a Blue and Red Ball Game–the police department versus the fire department. For more information, contact investigator Michael Bingham at 662 838-6000.
Bushes and trash trees have been taken down at the ball fields on Lowry Road. Many improvements are planned.
The Open-Air Patio on Church Street got new outdoor lighting and the open area by Lil Moo’s. The well house on Brunswick got a fresh coat of paint and fencing will be coming soon.
The next chapter…Most early settlers were planters, either living on their holdings or residing in the town, overseeing their farming operations. The departure of the Chickasaws from this area created a land rush that saw the state increase from two land offices in 1832 to four by 1833 — in 1835, land sales
accounted for 2,931,181 acres bought in the state. Land sold for $1.25 an acre and the minimum purchase was eighty acres. About the same time, land boomed and was developing, and so was a new promising strain of cotton. Even after Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1795, cotton production was limited because of susceptibility to rot and difficulty picking. The new variety developed about 1833 was favorably received with its wide-open bolls and high-quality fiber. By 1839, the state of Mississippi led the nation in cotton production; by 1849, Marshall County led the state. Slave labor was used to produce this money crop and one laborer could pick 150-200 pounds per day, which meant the owners could have 6-8 bales per field hand. In 1840 Memphis dealers handled 35,000 bales of cotton worth about $3,000,000.00. This number increased to 360,653 bales in 1860, worth $18,500,000.00. In 1860 Memphis was the sixth-largest city in the South and the largest inland cotton market in the world.
Please share your news with me at jchwagg@gmail.com or text or call 901 246-8843. You can message me on Facebook as Clair Wagg.